Cleveland Indians: Who will be added to roster before Rule 5 Draft?

The Cleveland Indians have multiple players they need to roster before the Rule 5 Draft, including a couple of top prospects and some lively pen arms.

The Rule 5 Draft is once again coming up and with it the Cleveland Indians will need to make some roster moves to protect some prospects they feel are too valuable to risk losing.

The Indians, as of this writing, have four open spots on their 40-man roster so can add up to four players unless they drop a guy already on the roster (such as a Neil Ramirez or Eric Stamets).

There are a number of players this year I feel are worthy of being rostered; however, as usual only a few will be. Here’s a look the four players I think are most likely to be rostered.

The Lock

There is only one player I’d say is a 100 percent lock to be rostered this year and that’s first baseman, Bobby Bradley. Since being drafted in the third round in 2014, Bradley has done nothing but show off the power the Indians dreamed of when they took him out of high school. His 79 home runs over the last three minor league seasons are the most in the Tribe system…by 20!

Bradley even made it to Triple-A last season earning a late-season call-up to the Columbus Clippers. He does still need some more polish but the risk of a team grabbing him and stashing him on the bench is just far too great to risk. While he very likely could see time with the Indians this year, he’ll open the season with the Clippers.

He is currently blocked by Yonder Alonso and Edwin Encarnacion at first base and designated hitter; however, both are potential free agents after 2019 so Bradley has a clear path to starting in Cleveland sooner than later.

Far from a perfect prospect, he remains a top-five prospect in the Tribe system and borderline top 100 guy in all of baseball. Odds of being rostered: 100%